Friendship Hunting Club v. Lejeune

999 So. 2d 216, 8 La.App. 3 Cir. 671, 2008 La. App. LEXIS 1636, 2008 WL 5159063
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 10, 2008
Docket08-671
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 999 So. 2d 216 (Friendship Hunting Club v. Lejeune) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Friendship Hunting Club v. Lejeune, 999 So. 2d 216, 8 La.App. 3 Cir. 671, 2008 La. App. LEXIS 1636, 2008 WL 5159063 (La. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

999 So.2d 216 (2008)

FRIENDSHIP HUNTING CLUB
v.
Gene LEJEUNE.

No. 08-671.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

December 10, 2008.

*218 Alan K. Breaud, Timothy W. Basden, Breaud & Meyers, Lafayette, LA, for Plaintiff/Appellee, Friendship Hunting Club.

J. Clemille Simon, Simon Law Offices, Lafayette, LA, for Defendant/Appellant, Gene Lejeune.

Court composed of MICHAEL G. SULLIVAN, ELIZABETH A. PICKETT, and CHRIS J. ROY, SR.,[*] Judges.

SULLIVAN, Judge.

Gene Lejeune appeals a judgment granting preliminary injunction in favor of Plaintiff, Friendship Hunting Club (the Club), and against him, denying his exceptions, denying his request for preliminary injunction against Neal Onebane, and vacating a previously issued temporary restraining order (TRO) in favor of him and against Neal Onebane.

This matter centers around the ownership of hunting leases in Vermilion Parish. Resolution of this appeal turns on whether the Club was a partnership or unincorporated association, as asserted by Plaintiff and as the trial court found, or whether Mr. Lejeune had simply used the name "Friendship Hunting Club" to refer to the hunting lease and camp of which he was the sole owner. According to Plaintiff, the original, core members of the Club were Mr. Lejeune; Andrew Onebane (who was married to Mr. Lejeune's daughter, Jean, from before the inception of the hunting lease until November of 1996); Andrew's brother, Neal Onebane; Neal's son, Jake Onebane; and Neal's friend, David Savoy. Plaintiff contends that before signing a lease, Mr. Lejeune met the aforementioned men about forming a hunting club to share expenses and to hunt/fish on the property. The parties dispute whether or not they intended to and did indeed form a legal entity known as the "Friendship Hunting Club" during those meetings. Mr. Lejeune insists that the alleged Club members were only allowed to use the leased property as his invited guests and solely at his discretion. Because we conclude that the trial court did not err in finding that the Club was, in fact, an unincorporated association, we affirm the judgment in its entirety.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Mr. Lejeune worked for over twenty years as a hunting and fishing guide at a private hunting club located on land owned *219 by Amoco Production Company near White Lake in Vermilion Parish. In 1996, Amoco offered to lease some of its land to Mr. Lejeune. On September 1, 1996, a four-year surface lease was entered into between Amoco and the Club, represented by Mr. Lejeune. Mr. Lejeune signed the lease, "Friendship Hunting Club, represented by Gene R. Lejeune." The lease required the lessee to obtain insurance. An insurance policy was procured from the Audubon Insurance Group listing the insured as "Friendship Hunting Club." Subsequent leases were entered into in the years that followed; all of them were entered into by the Club with Mr. Lejeune signing the documents as, "Friendship Hunting Club, represented by Gene Lejeune." In 2002, Amoco donated the White Lake property to the State of Louisiana, and since that time, the Club has made lease payments directly to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

After discovering that the 2005 lease payment had been paid a month after its due date, Neal Onebane contacted the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to have all future notices of the lease payment's due date mailed to both him and Mr. Lejeune, the listed contact for the Club. Neal Onebane paid the Club's insurance premium in December of 2006 and its lease payment in July of 2007, along with amounts due for road maintenance and other expenses. He wrote to Mr. Lejeune on July 25, 2007, informing him of those payments and enclosing a $2,000.00 check. The letter stated that the check was "for consulting as per our agreement." In several letters dated July 27, 2007, Mr. Lejeune informed Neal Onebane that he had until August 15, 2007 to vacate the lease and that he was revoking Neal's membership in the Club. Upon receipt of Mr. Lejeune's correspondence, Neal Onebane and the remaining Club members sought legal advice regarding the situation and on August 2, 2007, a letter was sent to Mr. Lejeune cautioning him that, as an individual member of the Club partnership, he had no right to take unilateral possession of the Club's property or property belonging to the other individual partners. In addition, at a meeting held between Club members Neal, Andrew, and Jake Onebane, a vote was taken whereby Mr. Lejeune was expelled from the Club. A letter memorializing the meeting and vote was sent to Mr. Lejeune on September 3, 2007. Around that same time, Mr. Lejeune placed a chain and lock on the entrance to the Club's property and erected a large sign on the gate leading to the property which read, "FORBIDDEN ENTRY ALL PEOPLE ASSO. WITH NIEL, Jake, Andrew, ONEBANE/FRIENDSHIP HUNTING CLUB, LLC. You Will be Charged TRESPASSING. APPROVED BY V.P.S.D. & D.A."

On October 22, 2007, the Club, appearing through member Neal Onebane, filed a petition for TRO, preliminary injunction, and permanent injunction. The trial court issued the requested TRO, enjoining Mr. Lejeune from interfering with the possession by the Club of its leased property, and preventing Mr. Lejeune from being present on the leased property until a hearing could be held on the request for preliminary injunction, which was set by agreement for November 5, 2007. On November 2, 2007, Mr. Lejeune filed exceptions on no right of action, lack of procedural capacity, and non-joinder of a party, along with a reconventional demand and incorporated motion to dissolve and/or modify the TRO, preliminary injunction and permanent injunction, and a request for a TRO, preliminary injunction and permanent injunction. The trial court signed the reciprocal TRO enjoining Neal Onebane from interfering with the possession *220 of Mr. Lejeune of the leased property and preventing Neal Onebane from being present on the leased property until the November 5, 2007 hearing on Mr. Lejeune's exceptions and the dueling requests for preliminary injunction.

The trial court denied Mr. Lejeune's exception of non-joinder of a party and Mr. Lejeune was allowed to try his remaining exceptions before the trial on the Club's request for TRO. The basis of the exceptions was Mr. Lejeune's assertion that he was the sole, individual lessee on the leases, regardless of the fact that the leases were signed in what appeared to be a representative capacity. On the second day of testimony on the exceptions, the trial court stated that it had "just about heard everything that it needed to hear" and that it was ready to rule on the exceptions. The trial court stated that, although it was of the opinion that Mr. Lejeune had found the lease, "a loosely held unincorporated association" had been formed and the hunting club's members had mutually approved the lease and maintained the lease through their mutual effort. The trial court denied Mr. Lejeune's exceptions but stated that he would be allowed to proffer any additional evidence that he wished to present. The trial court then began trial of the Club's request for preliminary injunction. In open court on November 7, 2007, the trial court granted the request for preliminary injunction by the Club and against Mr. Lejeune, restraining, enjoining, and prohibiting Mr. Lejeune, his agents, family members, and assigns from: 1) interfering with the Club's possession of all lands covered under the Amoco leases and any structures thereon, and; 2) being present on any land, camp building, and waterfowl hunting area leased by the Club and its members.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

John Doe v. DeRay Mckesson
945 F.3d 818 (Fifth Circuit, 2019)
Charles v. Landry
32 So. 3d 1164 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2010)
State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. Bosley
30 So. 3d 287 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
999 So. 2d 216, 8 La.App. 3 Cir. 671, 2008 La. App. LEXIS 1636, 2008 WL 5159063, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/friendship-hunting-club-v-lejeune-lactapp-2008.